Catholic Central Advances to State Semis With Win Over Belding

The Cougars of Catholic Central won the Division 4 State Championship last season behind a stellar defense. This year, they aimed to repeat their championship, as well as completing an undefeated season, something that has not been accomplished by Catholic Central since 1987. This week, they continued their march to Ford Field by knocking off the Black Knights of Belding 42-3.

In the first quarter of the game, star tailback Nolan Fugate started the scoring for the Cougars as he ran eighty-four yards through the teeth of the Belding defense to give Catholic Central a 7-0 lead. Later in the quarter, they struck again as Jack Bowen found Nate Trudeau on a 69 yard pass to extend the lead to fourteen.

Belding would get on the board in the second quarter when Paden Rousseau converted on a 30 yard field goal to cut the lead to eleven. This would be the closest that they would get in this one, as the Cougars offense exploded after this point. Fugate found the end zone again, this time from four yards out, and Catholic Central went into the locker room up 21-3.

In the second half, Catholic Central started out scoring on a pass from Bowen to Jack Tietema. Star running back Nolan Fugate would provide the rest of the scoring for Catholic as he rushed for two more touchdowns in the second half. He would finish this contest with a remarkable 293 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns. He once again proved why he is a top running back in Michigan.

With the win, Catholic Central advances to next weekend’s semifinals, where they will take on the Eskymos of Escanaba High School. The Eskymos reach the semifinal after beating Williamston 39-21 on Friday night. The time and location of this game are to be determined, and they will be announced by Monday at the latest.